"It was a bit of a mess and was badly decomposed. On first sight I thought it was a porpoise, but then I saw a long beak and was confused. But I think it's definitely a mammal."
Scott Davidson, displays manager at the Aquarium of the Lakes, Lakeside, The Lake District, disagreed.
He said he was pretty certain that Martin's mystery creature was in fact a 10-arm cephalopod mollusc.
The marine life expert said: "I reckon it's a squid and its tentacles have rotted away. But it's a pretty big example – they only normally grow to around 1ft.
"Where you would presume the head is, you can see its beak and where it would pump out water. And if it was decomposing it would certainly have stunk – they're notorious for that.
"What was seen as flippers could just be part of the decomposition. I'm 99% certain it is a squid."
Martin, 47, is now contemplating the possibility that if it is a new species it might even end up named after him.
But for now the Boardmanesis, Boardmanatee or perhaps even the Boardmanemo, is the subject of an investigation that has moved on to the Institute of Zoology, at Regent's Park, London.
Martin's mystery mammal was described as two and a half feet long, with what he said was a "body like a sealion but the bony head of a bird".
It also had what appeared to be two flippers. The bottom of the beak was thin and longer than the top and the creature was a dark tan colour on its back but lighter underneath.
http://www.prestontoday.net/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=73&ArticleID=831355
Its doubly intriguing as it is only an hour or sos drive up the coast from me.
Emps